Camping Recipes with Pinyon Pine Nuts

Camping Recipes with Pinyon Pine Nuts

Posted On
January 15, 2018
at 2:51 pm
by masterrandy / Comments Off on Camping Recipes with Pinyon Pine Nuts

Pinyon Pine Nuts with Pasta

Have you ever eaten Pinyon Pine Nuts?

Chances are pretty good you’ve heard of and eaten regular ol’ pine nuts (aka pignolias). They’ve been a food source all the way back to Old Testament and before. They are still a primary ingredient in Mediterranean and Italian cooking. Classic pesto is made with basil, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and … tahdah … pine nuts!

But we’re talking Mojave Desert – southwestern U.S.A. That’s a long way from the Mediterranean Sea. Yet, nuts of the pinyon pine that grow at elevation in the mountains surrounding that desert have long been a favored food source as well. Fact is, pinyon nuts contain more protein by weight than any other nut or seed.

You’ll find versions of this recipe all over the place. What makes this one different is the fact you’re using the intensely flavored pinyon pine nuts and that you’re cooking it in a cast iron skillet over an open campfire! Save yourself some time in camp and pre-cook the pasta at home and bring it to camp in a zipper top bag. You’ll be ready in minutes.

Pinyon Pine Nuts Add Texture to Soup

From the ingredient stand point this is a pretty simple vegetarian soup. You can make it rustic-style which is how you’d probably have it at the campsite, or gourmet it up in a home kitchen by making a puree of part of the mix and adding it back to the soup. As is typical of most bean soup recipes, this one is even better the second day.

Author: 50 Campfires

Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner

Cuisine: Camp Cooking

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

2 cans of black beans – drained and rinsed

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion – finely diced

1 leek – carefully cleaned and finely sliced

2 jalapeno chiles – seeds removed and finely diced

1 clove garlic – smashed and minced

12 cups water

¾ cup plain Greek yogurt

4 Tbs. cilantro – roughly chopped

4 Tbs. mint – finely chopped

⅓ cup pinyon nuts – toasted and chopped

1 ½ tsp. salt

hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

Open two cans of black beans. Drain and rinse thoroughly.

Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat.

Add olive oil, then onion, leek, jalapeno, and garlic to sauté.

Add beans and water, then bring to boil.

Simmer until beans are tender – at least one hour.

Add salt.

If you want, puree half the beans in a blender until smooth and the return to pot. (For rustic type soup, skip this step.)

Add yogurt and reheat, stirring in pinyon nuts and cilantro.

Reserve some nuts for garnish along with mint.

Serve, allowing diners to add hot sauce to taste as desired.

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Real Pinyon Pine Nuts are a seasonal bounty harvested mostly in Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. Gathering them and processing them is a labor intensive process. You’ll only be able to find them online with some research and at certain times of the year, and they will be expensive – unless you’re lucky enough to be there and possess the willingness to gather them yourself. You can substitute regular pine nuts with good results; they just won’t have quite as intense a flavor as the Pinyon Pine Nuts. We sourced our from Nuts.com.